I Can See Forever (Episode 6)
by Zanza8
Summary: Nick and Judy search for a kidnapped bear cub but their only lead is Yax, who claims to be a psychic and to have seen the crime in a vision.
1. Chapter 1

Judy went into the interrogation room with a folder and laid it on the table. "I hope that's what you wanted," she said timidly.

Nick opened it, glanced at it briefly, and slammed it down. "No, it's not!" he snapped. "Can't you ever get anything right? Do you always have to be such a dumb bunny?"

Her nose twitched nervously. "I'm not a dumb bunny."

"Just…" He took a deep breath, clearly trying to hold onto his temper. "Just get out."

The bunny crept out the door, closing it gently behind her, and Nick turned back to the zebra he was talking to. "I'm sorry about that. She's not a real cop, she's a political appointee, and I'm the one stuck babysitting her."

"She's your token bunny?"

Nick chuckled. "I guess you could say that. Nothing but trouble." He leaned forward and lowered his voice. "Sometimes it's all I can do not to just haul off and belt her. Females are the worst."

The zebra nodded. "My girlfriend is like that. Sometimes you just have to put them in their place."

"I get it." The fox nodded sagely. "That's really all that happened, right? You didn't mean to hurt her, you were just showing her who's boss."

"Exactly." The zebra smiled widely. "I only hit her once, it's not my fault she fell down the stairs and broke her leg."

Nick smiled back. "Sure. It was just an accident."

Judy came back in and Nick looked fondly at her. "Did you get it, darlin'?"

She pressed a button on the tape recorder in her paw. " _I only hit her once, it's not my fault she fell down the stairs and broke her leg_."

The fox looked impressed. "That has really good sound quality." He grinned at the zebra. "Don't you think that sounded good?"

"Hey, wait a minute!" The zebra shot a glare at Nick, then turned it on Judy. "You played me?"

"It wasn't hard," said the bunny disdainfully. "Your girlfriend told us all about how you treated her, we just put on the kind of show you like."

Nick pulled out a pair of handcuffs. "I think you should do the honors, Officer Hopps."

"Delighted." She snapped them on the stunned zebra and handed him over to a waiting sergeant, then opened the folder she had handed Nick earlier. "So what do you want for lunch? There's the noodle place, the grilled veggie bistro, oh, and there's a brand new juice bar in Tundratown." She spread out the menus on the table.

"They have blueberry pudding?" Nick pointed excitedly to the juice bar menu. "Let's go there!"

Judy hid a smile. Nick was so adorable when he was being a dork. Adorkable. Was that a word? It fit him perfectly and she said gravely, "If you want blueberry pudding for lunch, you can have two servings."

They headed out but as they reached the main lobby of the ZPD, a small otter in a purple dress hurried up to Judy. "Officer Hopps, can I have one minute of your time?"

The bunny smiled. "Of course, Mrs Otterton. I hope Mr Otterton is doing well?"

"He's fine, thanks to you and your partner." The otter looked hopefully at Nick. "Could you also hear what I have to say?"

"Glad to." The fox bent his head. "Would you care to step into an interview room?"

"Well…" Mrs Otterton looked around the busy lobby and said, "If it's not too much trouble…"

"It's no trouble at all," said Nick kindly. "You go to room 5 and I'll get us all some coffee."

Judy escorted the otter to the interview room, making small talk with her until the fox came in with three cups of coffee and a little bag of sugar cubes and coffee creamers. "Here you are."

"Thank you." Mrs Otterton dropped in a couple of sugar cubes, tasted her coffee, and turned to Judy. "I want to report a crime."

The bunny's eyes widened and she took out her notepad and trusty carrot pen. "Let me have all the details."

"Oh, I don't have any details."

Judy frowned. "What exactly are you trying to say?"

"You know the Mystic Springs Oasis?" Judy gulped and nodded and Mrs Otterton went on. "Emmet was there the other day and Yax, the owner, told him about a crime that's going to happen."

"So Yax is the animal we need to talk to?"

"Exactly!" said Mrs Otterton brightly. "Yax is a psychic and he's predicted all sorts of things and they've all come true. He predicted a crime that's going to happen but he didn't want to come here so I'm letting you know about it."

"I see," said Judy weakly. "Well, thank you for coming in, Mrs Otterton…"

"You don't understand!" The otter caught Judy's paw. "He said someone is going to be kidnapped and if they're not found in time, they're going to _die_. You have to do something!"

Nick put a reassuring paw on Mrs Otterton's shoulder. "We will, ma'am. You have my word. Why don't you leave Officer Hopps and me to deal with it now? And thank you so much for coming in to alert us." He walked the otter to the door and came back shaking his head. "That's just sad. She must have cracked up after Emmet disappeared."

"You don't believe in psychics?"

"Do you?" asked Nick incredulously.

"I like to keep an open mind," said Judy primly.

"So do I. I just don't want my mind so open my brain falls out."

The bunny glared. "What if Yax overheard something and he passed it along because he's afraid to report it himself? At the very least we should talk to him."

"Fine, I'll go," sighed the fox.

"No, _we'll_ go."

Judy had that determined look on her face that Nick found so endearing but remembering how upsetting the nudist club was to her, he felt equally determined to go alone. He'd been through enough today, having to talk so cruelly to her to get a confession out of that zebra. It had been Judy's idea, but he felt bad enough about that without the added misery of seeing her around all those naked animals. He grinned. "You know, it would be better to talk to Yax here. If you're right and he actually heard something, we need to get a formal statement, right?"

Judy's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "I suppose so."

"So I'll pick him up, you grab some lunch for us, and we'll meet back here."

"I know what you're doing, Nick," said Judy. "You're just trying to spare me going to that place again."

His sharp green eyes met her soft purple ones. "Would that be so bad?"

"It would if this were an actual crime," she said strongly.

He held up his paws. "I know."

Nick's eyes were pleading and Judy huffed, "Fine, you go get him. But make sure he puts on some clothes before you bring him in here!"


	2. Chapter 2

Yax looked around the interrogation room. "Whoa, this place is way different than I remember." He got up to look at the walls, revealing a very brief loincloth, and Judy shot Nick an annoyed look.

"I told you to have him put on some clothes," she whispered.

"That's all he has," the fox whispered back. "And that was the one that covered the most."

Judy rolled her eyes, then said firmly, "We didn't bring you here to talk about the decor. We want to know about this kidnapping you heard about."

"Right." Yax sat down, tossing back his long hair. "Only I didn't _hear_ about it. Like, what do you call it when you get a vision? It's not hearing, 'cause it's all in your head, but it's not seeing either, 'cause, you know, it's like _all_ in your head."

Nick gritted his teeth. "You're not conning me, Yax. There's no such thing as psychics."

"No?" The yak chuckled. "What does the number 275 mean to you?"

Judy interjected, "That's the number of brothers and sisters I have."

"Cool. What about the color blue?"

"Nick loves blueberries."

The fox was looking interested and Yax said, "I'm getting something about a muzzle."

"That's it," snapped Nick. "So you proved you can…"

"Can what?" The yak swayed dreamily. "Con a sucker? Every number has meaning if you're looking for a meaning. So does every color. And the muzzle thing, like, you're a _predator_ , Nick. I know all about how predators feel about muzzles."

The fox asked coldly, "Are you going to tell us about this kidnapping or not?"

"Funny thing," mused Yax. "I thought telling Emmet about it was a bad idea. I knew he couldn't keep a secret but I just had to tell him, you know?"

"No, we don't know," said Judy. "If you really can see the future, why don't you use your gift? Why hide it?"

Yax sat up straighter and his voice hardened. "You call it a _gift_? How'd _you_ like to be at a party and everybody's having a great time and you see an animal across the room and know he'll be dead in a week? What about shaking someone's paw and you _know_ he's been stealing from his boss and he's already got the cops on his trail and he's going to prison?" The yak put his hooves over his eyes. "I couldn't take it. Why do you think I smoke so much? Blocks out the visions."

The bunny sat down next to Yax. "But you told Mr Otterton. You had to know it was going to come back to you." Her voice was very gentle. "Please tell us what you know."

Yax dropped his hooves. "It's not like watching a TV. I saw a bear cub, maybe a brown bear or a grizzly...could have been a black bear…anyway, he was tied up in a dark place. Maybe the trunk of a car. And there was all this noise, crashing or banging, and the cub was crying...can I go now? I need a smoke or a drink or something."

Judy looked at Nick. He shrugged and she turned back to Yax. "You can go, but if you see or hear anything more, will you tell us? Please?"

"Yeah, whatever." Yax stumbled to the door and put up a hoof. "Don't bother taking me back, Nick. I'll find my own way."

Nick closed the door and went back to the table. "Well, that was a waste of time." He looked at the clock on the wall. "At least we have time for lunch."

"And here you go." Judy handed over a brown paper bag. "I went to the juice bar. Two blueberry puddings, just like you wanted."

Nick opened the bag and smiled blissfully. "You know I love you, right?"

"Do I know that?" The bunny smiled back, opening up another bag and taking out a chunk of carrot cake. "Yes. Yes, I do." They ate their lunch in companionable silence, then headed over to the little cubicle they shared to catch up on paperwork. Less than ten minutes later Chief Bogo called an emergency briefing.


	3. Chapter 3

Every officer from Precinct One who could make it was crowded into the bullpen and speculating on what could have happened when Chief Bogo walked in. "All right, all right. Shut it!" He walked up to his lectern and scowled at the room. "I just got a call from our mayor, Ben Burney. His son, Osborn, was taken this morning on the way to school."

Judy and Nick were sitting on the same huge chair and she elbowed him in the ribs. "Did you hear that?" she whispered. "Yax told us about a bear cub getting kidnapped. Mayor Burney is a brown bear."

"Officer Hopps." Bogo's voice was silky, always a bad sign, and Judy stood up on the chair. "Do you have something to share with the room?"

"Yes, sir."

Nick gave her a warning look.

"No, sir."

Nick nodded approvingly.

"Maybe, sir."

Nick shot Judy an exasperated look and stood up too. "We may have a tip, sir, but given the nature of the information, it would be best to speak about it in private."

Bogo glowered at the bunny and the fox, then snapped, "I've issued a Bambi alert for Osborn Burney. I want all of you to follow this up with every source you have. Dismissed. Wilde, Hopps, my office!"

The cape buffalo stomped off as the officers left for the street, stopping at the front desk to order Clawhauser to hold his calls, then beckoning Nick and Judy to precede him into his office. He shut the door, went around to his desk, and sat down with a forbidding stare. "I've known you two long enough to know when you're about to give me a headache."

"Still thinking about those greeting cards, sir?" asked Nick brightly.

"Shut your mouth, Wilde!" bellowed the chief.

"It'll be hard to tell you about the tip if I do that."

Judy gave Nick a look. "Sir, do you remember Mrs Otterton?"

Bogo transferred his smoldering eyes from the fox to the bunny. "How could I ever forget?"

"She came to see us this morning. She wanted to tell us about a kidnapping that was going to happen. She heard about it from her husband, who got it from the proprietor of the Mystic Springs Oasis."

"Never heard of it."

"It's a nudist club, sir."

Bogo's eyes narrowed. "Proceed."

"Nick brought the proprietor, Yax, to the station for a formal interview. He confirmed the information."

"That doesn't sound like something that needed to be discussed in private," said the chief suspiciously.

Nick took over. "The fact of the matter is that Yax thinks he's a psychic and he saw the kidnapping in a vision." He held up a paw. "I know how crazy that sounds, sir, and I don't believe it for a minute, but a lot of animals go to that club and Yax is always stoned. He probably overheard something and thinks he saw a vision. All he was able to tell us was a bear cub was taken and tied up somewhere, maybe in the trunk of a car, and there were crashing sounds. We thanked him and told him to let us know if he heard anything else."

Bogo thought for a moment. "Hopps, you have a connection to Mr Big. I want you to reach out to him, see if he's heard anything on the street. Wilde, I'm not even going to think about your links to your criminal past. Just make sure you contact all of them."

"Yes, sir," Nick and Judy chorused.

"As to this Yax…" The chief paused. "Wilde, is it your belief that he may be a credible source?"

Nick hesitated. "Possibly. Whatever he may have heard, there's always a chance he may hear something more."

"Then follow up with him if you think it's warranted. Dismissed."


	4. Chapter 4

Mayor Ben Burney opened the door and made a vague gesture with his paws. "Thank you for coming, Chief Bogo."

The cape buffalo displayed his habitual aversion to small talk by coming straight to the point. "Have you heard anything?"

The mayor beckoned and a well-dressed jackal hurried up with a small backpack. "This is my aide, Henry Jackalman. Henry?"

The jackal handed the mayor the backpack. "This was delivered to the house about an hour ago. Until it came, we didn't even know Osborn had been taken. He walks to his school and they didn't notify us when he failed to arrive. I asked the school why we hadn't been contacted and they told me their policy is not to call the home unless a student has missed two days without an excuse."

Burney was turning the backpack over and over in his paws. "It's my son's," he said in a low voice. He fumbled with the zipper to open the front pocket and handed over a piece of paper with cut out letters from a newspaper forming a message.

WE HAVE YOUR SON. IF YOU DO NOT FOLLOW OUR INSTRUCTIONS YOU WILL NEVER SEE HIM AGAIN. REMAIN AT YOUR HOME AND WAIT FOR OUR CALL.

Bogo frowned at the jackal . "How was this delivered?"

"A courier service. Sprint Tiger, to be precise."

The chief said softly, "Naturally you called to find out who dropped off the package."

"Naturally." The jackal shrugged. "They get so many packages they couldn't remember anything about the animal that dropped this one off. Whoever it was paid in cash, so there's no transaction record either."

Bogo took out a notepad and a pen. "Sprint Tiger. I'll have it checked out."

"Really, Chief Bogo, there's nothing to check out," said Jackalman in an irritated tone. "I've already called."

Bogo stared at the jackal until the smaller animal took a step back, then he turned to Burney. "Can you think of anyone who might have done this?"

The mayor shook his head, then hurried to the side of a she-bear coming down the stairs. "Darling, I told you to get some rest." He looked distractedly at Bogo. "My wife, Ursula."

The cape buffalo went up to the distraught couple. "I promise you we're going to do everything we can to bring your little cub home safely. I'd like to set up some equipment to record any incoming calls from the kidnappers."

"Yes, yes, do whatever you think best," muttered Burney. He tried to guide his wife back upstairs but she pulled away from him and took Bogo's hooves in her paws.

"Chief Bogo, please, you've got to find him. Please."

"Yes, ma'am." Bogo patted Mrs Burney's paw. "Best thing for you is to go back upstairs and give us room to do our job." He looked meaningfully at Burney and the mayor nodded and put an arm around his wife, guiding her back to the stairs. The cape buffalo sighed, then pulled out his cell phone. "Clawhauser? I need a full recording setup at the mayor's mansion ten minutes ago."

The beaver held an earphone to his head, made a final adjustment, then nodded. "Good to go, Chief."

Burney looked anxiously at the array of equipment attached to his phone and Bogo said reassuringly, "Weaver is our best radio technician. All you have to do is keep whoever calls on the line for thirty seconds and he'll be able to trace the call."

The brown bear paced back and forth. " _If_ they call."

"They will," said Bogo confidently, a confidence that was justified when the phone rang half an hour later.

Burney jumped, then composed himself and picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"I didn't tell you not to call the cops because I knew you would. I know they're recording this call so I'll make it brief. Collect one hundred thousand dollars in small bills and have that bunny cop they're so proud of take it to the Natural History Museum in one hour and wait for a call with further instructions at the pay phone by the entrance." There was a click as the caller hung up.

Weaver shook his head. "Not even close, Chief. I've got the caller but they only stayed on the line for twenty seconds."

Bogo snorted in frustration, then turned to Burney. "What about the ransom?"

The mayor blinked. "You want me to pay it?"

"No. But we do need the money. We'll put a tracker on it and when Hopps delivers it, the money will lead us right to your son and the kidnappers. Weaver, get Hopps and Wilde over here."

"Yes, sir." The technician took out his cell phone.

"Why do you suppose they want Officer Hopps to deliver the ransom?" asked Burney.

"I don't know," said Bogo gruffly, "but if they think she'll be easy to deal with, they don't know the first thing about her or her partner."


	5. Chapter 5

Nick watched morosely as Weaver finished wiring Judy. "Something's not right about this."

"Check the sound," said Weaver.

Nick put in his earbud and went in the next room and Judy's voice sounded in his ear. "A bear cub has been kidnapped for a hundred thousand dollar ransom. Of course it's not right."

The fox went back to his partner. "Loud and clear. And I've got a bad feeling. Why did they ask for you specifically?"

"Upset they didn't want you?" Judy hefted the backpack with the hundred thousand dollars in it. "It's not like you could carry this better than me."

"Judy." The bunny's eyes widened as Nick said her name. He almost never used her name and she was silent as he continued. "Whoever did this managed to take the mayor's son with no witnesses and no notification from the school, so they had time to get away. They knew the mayor would call the cops, and how long they could stay on the phone before their call would be traced. They knew how much money he could get together in a hurry. They've been one step ahead the whole way."

"You think they wanted me for a reason?" asked Judy uncomfortably.

"Maybe." Nick turned to Chief Bogo. "Respectfully, sir, I don't think…"

"Save it, Wilde," Bogo said roughly. "I don't like this any better than you do but we'll take what precautions we can." A leopard officer came in with a duffel bag and Bogo rummaged in it and pulled out a bulletproof vest. "Put this on, Hopps." Judy pulled off her jacket and strapped the vest on and the chief nodded approvingly. "Better. Wilde, you take this." He handed over a rifle and Nick hefted it, grinning.

"A tranquilizer gun, now that's more like it. So what's the plan, sir?"

Bogo looked around at Mayor Burney. The brown bear was sitting on his couch next to his aide, Jackalman, while Weaver had gone back to his recording equipment and was fiddling with it, trying to find some clue in the caller's voice or background noise. "Clawhauser is down the street in an unmarked car," said the chief softly. "I want you two to stay within one hundred feet of Hopps at all times, because you're right, Wilde. Something about this setup smells."

"You think it could be an inside job, sir?" asked Judy, buttoning up her jacket to hide the bulletproof vest.

"I don't know." Bogo frowned. "Maybe the mayor's house is bugged. Maybe someone's been stalking him. Whatever is going on, I want _us_ to be one step ahead." He raised his voice. "Hopps, get over to the museum to wait for the call. Wilde, go outside and guard the house."

They saluted and left, Judy with the leopard who drove her straight to the museum and dropped her off, while Nick went down the street to find Clawhauser waiting for him. They drove to the museum and parked across the street from where Judy was waiting by a pay phone.

Clawhauser lolled behind the steering wheel, munching on a donut, his deceptively lazy look belied by the intentness with which he scrutinized the street. Nick wasn't even looking in Judy's direction but his whole attention was focused on his earbud and when he heard Judy answer the phone he jumped, then listened intently as she spoke. "She's on the move," said Clawhauser. He gunned the motor, hanging back as the bunny raced down the block. "And she's really moving."

Nick frowned. "After she hung up, she said she was supposed to go down two blocks to a laundromat and answer another call. They only gave her a minute and a half."

"That must be why they wanted her," said Clawhauser. "She's the fastest cop on the force."

"You're not the only cheetah on the force, Benji."

"True, but…" Clawhauser paused, then went on slowly, "There's only two others. One is on vacation and the other one has a broken leg."

The fox gritted his teeth. "This is sounding more like an inside job all the time. All right, keep her in sight but don't get too close. We don't want to spook them."

Panting, Judy ran into the laundromat just as the phone started to ring. "Don't touch that phone!" she shouted at a raccoon employee. The raccoon backed off as Judy grabbed the phone off the hook.

"Not bad, cop," said the voice at the other end. "Go out the back door and through the alley. You'll come out by a TV repair shop. There's a pay phone across the street. You have ninety seconds."

"Wait!" she gasped. They had already hung up. "Nick, I have ninety seconds to go through the alley in the back and get to a pay phone across the street from a TV repair shop." She took off running as Nick relayed the information to Clawhauser and the cheetah wove through traffic. They caught sight of Judy just as she reached the phone.

"One more stop," the voice hissed in her ear.

"I...need...to rest," she gasped. "Just to...catch my breath."

"Down the street, turn right, one block. You got a minute. A minute flat."

Judy repeated the directions to Nick and raced out. She made it to the end of the block just as the minute was up and held her sides, looking around desperately for a pay phone. There was none, and she wiped sweat out of her eyes to look around more carefully, sure she must have missed it. Then a bullet hit her squarely in the chest, knocking her off her feet, and the world went black.

A ferret dashed forward and grabbed the backpack just as Clawhauser pulled up and Nick catapulted from the car, staring in disbelief at Judy's crumpled body. The ferret jumped on a motorcycle and started it up and Nick, crazy with rage and grief, shouldered the tranquilizer gun and fired a dart into the ferret's back. The ferret jerked, squeezing the throttle, and the bike took off and slammed into a wall, pinning the rider under its weight. Nick threw down the gun and ran to Judy.

She was pushing herself up to a sitting position and Nick stopped in disbelief. "You're alive?"

The bunny opened her jacket, wincing. "Did you forget I was wearing a bulletproof vest?"

Nick scooped her up in his arms. "When I saw you get shot and you weren't moving, yeah, I forgot you were wearing a bulletproof vest."

They held onto each other for a moment, then she pushed against his chest. "I'm all right, Nick. I was just stunned for a minute. Put me down."

He set her on her feet and they turned to see Clawhauser coming back slowly from the motorcycle wreck. "Is he okay?" asked the fox.

The cheetah shook his head. "He wasn't wearing a helmet. He's dead."


	6. Chapter 6

"Jim Veasal. Thirty years old, arrests going back fifteen years, three convictions. One for car theft, two for robbery." Chief Bogo turned a page. "Out on parole on the last offense for good behavior." He sighed, laid down the file on the dead kidnapper, and gazed thoughtfully at Nick and Judy. The bunny was slightly hunched over and he asked, "All right, Hopps?"

"All right, sir." Judy tried to straighten up. "Just bruised ribs."

"Where is he?" There was a roar in the hallway, then Mayor Burney charged through the door of Bogo's office and headed straight for Nick. "You killed the only animal who could tell me where my son is!"

Bogo slammed Burney into the wall. "You have a problem with one of my officers, you speak to me!"

The brown bear struggled against the cape buffalo but Bogo was too strong for him and he snarled, "Your _officer_ just got my son killed!"

Nick flinched and Judy took his paw, squeezing it tightly as Bogo snapped, "My officer is not responsible for your son's kidnapping! He saw his partner shot and he responded to stop the shooter. The death of the kidnapper is regrettable but it was an accident. I commend his actions, and in his place I would have done the same thing."

Bogo released the mayor and Burney staggered over to a chair. "We're never going to get my son back now."

The chief met Judy's eyes and jerked his head towards the door and she pulled Nick outside, closing the door softly.

"He's right, you know," said the fox dully.

"Nick…"

"We're never going to find Osborn Burney and it's all my fault." Nick shuddered. "But I couldn't let that ferret get away. I thought…"

Judy said forcefully, "Never mind what you thought. We need to do something now."

"What can we do?"

"We can go talk to Yax. I know you think he's a phony, but what if he isn't? Nick, what if, somehow, he can tell us where Osborn is?"

The fox closed his eyes. "Sure. Yeah, I'll go see Yax."

" _We'll_ go see Yax. Now pull yourself together, Nick, or I'll go by myself."

Nick opened his eyes and the ghost of a smile played over his mouth. "It's no place for a cute little bunny all by herself."

"Don't call me cute." Judy pulled on Nick's paw. "Come on."

They found Yax by the pleasure pool, chanting softly to himself as naked animals frolicked around him. Ignoring the bare bodies, Judy went right up to him and took him by the arm. "All right, Yax, let's go."

"Go where?" the yak whined. "I was just getting in the zone."

"The zone can wait. Right now we need to talk."

Yax got to his feet. "Talk about what?"

"Osborn Burney."

"Never heard of him."

"No?" Nick fixed the yak with a stern look. "You told us about a bear cub getting kidnapped and Mayor Burney's cub Osborn was taken on his way to school. I don't know how you knew about it, but you're going to tell us everything you know right now or you're going to find yourself charged as an accessory to kidnapping. Maybe even murder."

"Whoa, like, hit the pause button, Nick!" Yax held up his hooves. "I don't know anything. I just see things."

"Do you see yourself in prison for the rest of your life?" asked the fox grimly.

Judy interjected, "Let's go to your office so we can talk about this privately."

Yax glumly led the way to his office and took a rolling paper and a pouch out of his desk. Judy snatched them away. "Talk first."

The yak gazed longingly at the pouch, then flopped down on a threadbare couch. "I told you, it's not like watching a TV. I can't see what you want."

Nick bent down and stared into the cloudy eyes. "Try, Yax. Try real hard. We wouldn't be here if there was any other way to find that cub. You're the one who said he was going to die. You want that on your conscience?"

Yax leaned away from the fox and Nick straightened up, waiting. The yak put his hooves over his eyes, muttering to himself. "All I see is the cub. He's tied up, and he's crying…" Yax winced. "And there's all this _noise_ , crashing all around him…" He hunched over. "I can't...I can't…I can't see anything else. Just a flower."

"What kind of flower?" asked Judy softly.

"Like a rose. Only not a rose, you know? Like a painted rose. Or maybe a cactus…"

"A cactus rose?" Nick asked, and there was a sound of suppressed excitement in his voice.

"Yeah, maybe. Can I have my stuff now?"

Nick nodded to Judy and the bunny laid the paper and pouch next to the yak, then followed the fox out the door. "What is it, Nick?"

"There's a flower shop called The Cactus Rose." Nick grinned. "And you know what's right across the street? Iron Fillings. A _junkyard_."

Judy's eyes popped. "Crashing noise! Like a compactor! How far is this place?"

"Half a mile, tops. You think it's worth a shot, Carrots?"

"It's all we've got." Judy ran to their police cruiser as fast as her bruised ribs would let her and jumped in the passenger side, grabbing the radio and filling in Clawhauser while Nick sped off to the junkyard.

"Look!" The fox pointed to the flower shop. There was a picture of a cactus rose painted on a big sign over the door and Judy looked across the street at the junkyard.

"Hurry, Nick!"

He made a sharp turn into the junkyard as a pretty young armadillo was closing the gate. "Open up! Police business!"

She pulled the gate open and he drove through and jumped out of the car. "Where's the manager?"

"That would be me. Samantha Shellstein." The armadillo looked from Nick to Judy. "How can I help you?"

""We're looking for a kidnap victim," said Nick urgently. "Have you taken in any cars or vans today?"

"A few. That's the last one." She pointed at the compactor, about to crush an old black four door sedan.

"Stop that thing!" shouted Judy as Nick raced towards the car. Samantha waved her paws frantically but the operator, an old armadillo, didn't see her. The hydraulic press descended, slowly but inexorably, as Judy and Samantha ran to stop the operator and Nick dove through a broken window and wriggled into the back seat, pulling frantically on the lever that would release it and let him into the trunk. The roof began to crumple with a screech of tortured metal and he broke into a cold sweat, then the seat folded down and he saw Osborn Burney, bound and muzzled and sobbing uncontrollably. Nick pulled the cub into his arms, cringing as the roof of the car came down on them. He pushed the little cub out the window but the opening had become too small for him to get out. He fell back, shaking with terror, and it was a long moment before he realized the noise had stopped.

"Nick? Nick!" Judy was peering in at the window, reaching for him, and he caught her paw. "Are you all right?"

The fox clung tightly to the bunny's little velvet paw. "Just get me out of here."

The old armadillo came up with a Claws of Life. "Let me in there, ma'am. I'll have him out in a minute." He inserted the hydraulic tool in the door jamb and pried the door off the car, allowing Judy to pull Nick to safety. He dropped to his knees, waving a paw at the bear cub. "I'm all right, Carrots. Go see about him."

The bunny turned to Osborn, untying his bonds as fast as she could, and as the last of the ropes and the muzzle fell away, he threw his arms around her neck. "I want to go home."

Nick pushed himself shakily to his feet. "Me too, kid. Me too."


	7. Chapter 7

Mayor Burney opened the door and smiled widely. "Chief Bogo!"

"Mayor," said the cape buffalo. "You've met Officers Hopps and Wilde."

The fox and the bunny came forward and Burney put out a paw. "Officer Wilde, I'm deeply sorry for the way I spoke to you before. When I think how you risked your life to save my son…" The brown bear's voice broke. "I can never thank you enough."

Nick shook the bear's paw. "No need to thank me, sir. I was just doing my job."

Burney smiled and offered his paw to Judy. "I suppose you don't want any thanks either."

"No, sir." She gave the bear's huge paw a brisk shake. "That's what we do at the ZPD."

"We didn't come here for thanks, Mayor," said Bogo. "We were hoping to speak to your aide, Henry Jackalman."

"Of course. Please, come in." Burney led the way to the living room, where his aide was going over some papers. "Henry?"

The jackal rose to his feet. "Chief, I want to thank you and your officers for rescuing Osborn. I admit I had my doubts."

"Oh, I don't think you had any doubts at all," said Bogo coolly. The jackal blinked in confusion as the chief continued. "In fact, I think you planned everything too well to ever doubt the outcome."

Burney looked from Bogo to Jackalman. "Henry, what is he talking about?"

The cape buffalo regarded Jackalman. "It was such a little thing that you probably didn't think about it." He turned his attention to Burney. "Did you know your aide has a niece?"

"Certainly! I've seen her picture, and she came to Osborn's birthday party."

Bogo nodded. "Did you also know she goes to the same school as Osborn?"

"No, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"Mr Jackalman here told us that you weren't notified by the school because they have a policy not to call home unless a student misses two days without an excuse. He claimed to have only learned about this policy. However, his sister is a widow and he's very close to her and helps with raising his niece. He was the one who enrolled her in Osborn's school. He knew all about the school policy."

"That doesn't prove anything!" blustered Jackalman.

"No," said Bogo. "It's just interesting that you pretended not to know about the policy. It's also interesting that whoever the kidnapper was, he knew Osborn's route to school. Knew the school policy that would keep the mayor from learning his son was missing and so give the kidnapper time to get away. Whoever took Osborne even knew that Hopps was the fastest animal on the force with our cheetahs unavailable. You, Mr Jackalman, are the liaison from the mayor's office to the police department."

Jackalman was looking sick but he managed to say, "That's still not proof."

"This is." Bogo held up a piece of paper. "This is an arrest report. _Your_ arrest report from fifteen years ago." Jackalman wilted as the chief went on. "You were picked up for car theft. And you had an accomplice. Jim Veasal, the ferret who kidnapped Osborn. "

Burney glared at Jackalman. "You? _You_ took my son?" He lunged at Jackalman and was brought up short by Bogo's arm.

"He's not worth it, sir." Bogo's eyes glittered. "Officer Hopps was shot by your accomplice, Jackalman. Officer Wilde was almost crushed to death pulling Osborn out of the death trap you two left him in."

"That wasn't my fault!" whined Jackalman. "All we wanted was the money! Nobody was supposed to get hurt. I didn't even know Jim had a gun, I never thought he'd shoot a cop. And Osborn was just supposed to be left someplace safe. I didn't want him to die."

"Sounds like you didn't know your friend as well as you thought you did," said Bogo frostily. "I thought it only right, after what you put them through, that Wilde and Hopps get to make the arrest."

Nick took out his cuffs. "Officer Hopps, would you please read Mr Jackalman his rights?"

Judy smiled. "Certainly, Officer Wilde."


	8. Chapter 8

"I can't believe you wanted to come here," said Nick crankily.

Judy looked up at the Mystic Springs Oasis. "We should thank Yax."

"You still think he saw Osborn in a vision?"

"Don't you? He told us right where to go. If it wasn't for him, we never would have gotten there in time."

"Have it your own way, Carrots. I'm just glad there isn't going to be a trial."

Judy frowned. "I wish Jackalman hadn't been able to get a lesser sentence with a guilty plea. He should be in prison for the rest of his life."

"Twenty-five to life is no picnic," said Nick. "At least it's over. This is one case I don't want to think about any more. Every time I go to sleep I have nightmares."

"So do I," said Judy soberly. "I keep dreaming that the compactor didn't stop in time."

"That's not what I dream about. I dream you weren't wearing a bulletproof vest."

Their eyes locked, each seeing how haunted the other was, then Judy said lightly, "I still can't believe you forgot I was wearing a vest. You saw me put it on. Dumb fox."

Nick's eyes twinkled. "Clever bunny. All right, you want to thank Yax, let's go in and get it over with. I want to check out that juice bar."

He pulled the door open for her and they went inside to find Yax behind the reception counter, chanting away and oblivious to their presence.

"Yax?" Judy frowned. "Yax!"

Nick rapped on the counter. "Wakey, wakey."

"Huh?" Yax pushed his hair out of his eyes and blinked at them. "Oh, hi!"

"Yax, we just wanted to thank you," said Judy earnestly. "If it wasn't for you, the mayor's son Osborn would have been killed."

The fox nodded. "Yeah, however you did it, thanks."

"No problem." Yax closed his eyes and started chanting again. Nick and Judy exchanged a look, startled at the abrupt dismissal, then started for the door. "Yo, Nick!" called Yax. The fox stopped. "The bunny scout picked up your blueberry puddings last time, you should pay the check at the juice bar today."

Nick whipped around. "How did you know about that?"

"I don't _know_. I just _see_." Yax opened his eyes and stared into the distance. "Sometimes it's like I can see forever."


End file.
